We continue to collect specific donations to send to Haiti. As before, we will collect, sort, pack and palletize the items and then take them to MERCI for distribution. Our re-located warehouse space is located at 1053C East Whitaker Mill Road, on the northwest corner of Whitaker Mill and Atlantic. You will note the address 1053C on one of the warehouses. Thanks to Trevor Spear, owner of the warehouse and Hayes Barton UMC member!
Important details follow. Please read through to the end so you are fully informed.
Donations We Will Receive
The Raleigh District has been asked to focus on food collection* which we will certainly do. However, we may continue other collections that we may already be doing. We have well over 100 partially completed health kits. We need nail clippers (or files) and new hand towels to complete those kits. I know several of our churches were working on collecting and assembling health kits, so please continue those efforts.
We will also accept medical donations as several of you are already in the process of collecting these as well. We ask that all other donations be taken directly to MERCI.
*Reminder on food: do not pack into zip lock bags; no not send glass jars of any kind; do not send powdered baby formula. Please check for expired items before sending them to the warehouse.
Where to Take the Donations
There are two places you can drop off the specified items:
1. At any of the four churches in our district which have agreed to serve as drop-off sites. They will bring the items to the warehouse for packing and shipping. Those four churches are:
- Edenton St. UMC, Renae Newmiller 919-832-7535 ext. 231, rnewmiller@esumc.org, 9:00-4:30 M-F
- Fuquay-Varina UMC, Jane Gue 919-552-4331, jgue@fvumc.org, 8:30-5:00 M-F, or call church office
- Knightdale UMC, Keith Brown 919-610-2920, kbrown614@yahoo.com, 9:00-4:00 M-F
- St. Mark’s UMC, Wes Hare 919-389-3459, wesh@theodavis.com, 9:00-5:00 M-TH, 9:00-12 FR
2. You may chose to take your items directly to the warehouse located at Whitaker Mill Road.
Warehouse Operation
The warehouse will be open Saturdays and Tuesdays from 10 – 3. We had hoped to start January 30, but the weather has prevented our doing so. Therefore, we will start Tuesday, February 2. We will add an extra day next week, February 4, as we believe the churches will have accumulated quite a supply by then. We will be able to make special arrangements to meet you at the warehouse if you need to come at times other than those listed. To set up alternative dates to drop off, contact Linda (who offices at the warehouse): (w) 758-8002; (c) 369-4710; or Jo Elaine (609-0821). If it looks like more days of operations is required, we will set additional days.
Sheila Prosser (ds_prosser@yahoo.com; 889-9045) and Gwen Gray (gsgray@nc.rr.com; 266-0548) have consented to help lead the activities at the warehouse. They were with me practically everyday in Clayton are are familiar with the logistics and standards of our packing efforts.
If you have a particularly large donation, please contact us ahead of time so we can arrange for additional people.
Volunteers Needed
Volunteers are needed at the warehouse to accept deliveries, assemble health kits, sort, build boxes, weigh, and palletize — everything we did at the Clayton warehouse. Some jobs can be done sitting down, but most will require standing, and some require heavy lifting. We would like at least 8 people at all times there. Workers should be at least 12 years old.
Please bring your lunch, snacks and drinks with you. There is a refrigerator and microwave we may use.
I cannot guarantee that you will have things to do the entire time you are there: deliveries are sporadic, as many of you know. There are times when we are so busy we can’t even stop to eat; other times give us the opportunity to get to know our fellow workers better.
We are asking you as individuals and as groups to call to set up times to volunteer. Due to the limited hours of operation, it is critical we have enough people to cover all the tasks. To set up times, please contact Kellie Baker: 919-961-9618, kp103baker@yahoo.com.
“What else is needed?” you ask.
We need to borrow scales to weigh our boxes before we palletize them; we need pallets; strong boxes of the same size to box our donations; and we need the plastic wrap used to wrap around our pallets. All of those materials we had at our Clayton warehouse were sent to MERCI. “Got truck?” — we need to transport the loaded pallets to MERCI.
Additional ways to help
Financial contributions are critical for our sustained efforts to help Haiti. Please encourage your churches, businesses, families and friends to donate to the following:
- UMCOR: Haiti Disaster – Advance #418325 (Disaster relief/response in Haiti)
- NC Disaster Appeal – Conference Advance #S00096 (This is to assist in covering shipping costs.)
- MERCI Mission Center – Conference Advance Special #S000136 (To operate MERCI as shipping & coordination point.)
Please continue your efforts collecting the food, health kits and medical supplies.
Great News!
Some of our supplies that we collected and packed are already in the hospitals and in the make-shift homes. Many doubted we could do it; however, we have the Holy Spirit leading our efforts. Our District is working with the NC Conference, Stop Hunger Now, the military, and various NGOs. We have flown goods in and we have put them on ships (even the Royal Caribbean lines!). Our hard work for those devastated by the earthquake in Haiti is paying dividends. Please continue! The need is great and is long-term.
See you at MERCI!
We will be taking our donated items to MERCI every week or so. Workers are needed there to help with the influx of donated goods. Our Raleigh District workday at MERCI is February 27! I hope to see you there.
Jo Elaine Harris
Raleigh District Pastor of Missions
The United Methodist Church
7071 Forestville Road
P. O. Box 83
Knightdale, NC 27545
Telephone: 919-266-2373, ext. 108
Email: joelaine@nccumc.org
